Espionage is a top concern for 28% of industrial sector security chiefs who identify it as a genuine internal threat this year, reported G4S.
Nearly three in ten (29%) of them also expect internal theft by employees or contractors.
Industrial espionage involves the illicit acquisition of sensitive intellectual property – such as manufacturing processes, chemical formulas or strategic trade secrets – that insiders often have access to.
Beyond internal risks, the sector is particularly sensitive to economic instability, which nearly half (48%) of industrial security chiefs say will be a driver of security threats this year – a rate significantly higher than the global average.
AI-powered video surveillance and analytics is classified as crucial for operations over the next two years by 45% of industrial security leaders.
“A better opportunity to intercept”
Rachelle Loyear, Vice President, Integrated Security Solutions at Allied Universal, said: “The growing focus on industrial espionage reflects a real shift in how organisations need to think about protecting high-value assets.
“We are seeing a sophisticated landscape where the theft of trade secrets and proprietary processes is becoming a top-tier risk, often exacerbated by rising activism targeting high-value industrial sites.
“In this environment, protecting intellectual property requires a more integrated approach.
“Intellectual property is not only exposed through cyber channels, it is often accessible through people, physical environments and operational processes.”
Loyear continued: “By equipping security teams with tools like analytics and AI to support detection and response, they have a better opportunity to intercept these threats in real-time.”
World Security Report
These are some of the findings from the World Security Report, commissioned by Allied Universal and G4S.
2,352 chief security officers (CSOs) in 31 countries at medium and large, global companies with total revenue exceeding $25 trillion took part in the research – including 251 from the industrials sector.
“An essential early-warning system”
Loyear added: “Firms are deploying smart analytics to identify “pre-incident indicators” – such as unusual access patterns to R&D zones or unauthorized presence near chemical formulas – to detect the subtle behavioral anomalies.
“AI-driven intelligence can serve as an essential early-warning system, assisting security teams to filter out background noise and focus on genuine threats in real-time.
“By automating the detection of these anomalies, security officers can move beyond routine monitoring and apply their specialist expertise where it is most needed,” she concluded.
